Opinion Marathon Anna

There is so much that went spectacularly over the top: from Aaj Tak’s visual of Anna holding the channel’s logo up high,to Arnab Goswami’s claim — delivered with his customary assurance — that the hundreds at India Gate were more Indians than had ever assembled at one place before. (Come to Eden Gardens during a match,sir,when there are 90,000 people inside. And 90,000 outside,with fake tickets.) These are not even isolated incidents; they are representative of the entire week. Those of us looking for absurdity on news TV felt this week like hard-working gold miners who’ve suddenly woken up in the Gurgaon Gold Souk after they shut the doors at night.

But surely the most ridiculous coverage came right at the end of the week,in the rapt coverage of Hazare’s triumphant,Mandela-esque processional from the Dark Gate of Tihar to the Ramlila grounds — via,of course,Rajghat,where the ghost of Gandhiji is laughing himself silly. On CNN-IBN,the usually reliable Smriti Advani tried hard to sound like she had won a lottery she hadn’t even entered: “Everyone wants to get close enough to Anna to give him a hug!” she insisted. Nor did flipping channels help. On one channel,a hyper correspondent described him as “the hero who has been fighting for their own cause”; on another,a reporter squealed: “Enough is enough! Everybody is ecstatic!”

Please don’t think that this should be chalked up to youthful enthusiasm. Arnab Goswami,willing to come in early and spend his afternoon covering the riveting scenes of Hazare toddling around Rajghat,assured us that he had “unleashed Times Now’s most senior reporters”. Sure enough,Srinjoy Chowdhury came on-screen and said: “You saw the optimism in the air! Why have they bought flags? Why have they come from colleges?” (I seem to recall it didn’t take much to get me out of college.) “For a man jailed for three days!” (If you call sticking your tongue out and refusing to leave Tihar being “jailed”.)

Meanwhile,on-screen,it suddenly started raining at Rajghat,and Anna took off like a stocky rugby forward,edging his way past the cops,dashing comically for shelter. (Oddly,I don’t remember any pictures of Gandhiji scrambling to get out of the rain.) For Goswami,this was yet another indication of Hazare’s superiority to politicians,who tend to walk more respectfully and sedately around Rajghat. “How many of them can run?” he asked,like a lovestruck teenager. “I wish one of our politicians could do it! He is so fit! Like a 25-year-old!” I had already spent an appalled few minutes the previous day watching Anna’s home-made webcam video from Tihar,where he pranced around gaily demonstrating his fitness,so I really didn’t need any reminding about what a spry marathon-running type he was.

It wound up in Ramlila Maidan,with Anna sitting on a high chair above the crowd,having his blood pressure ceremonially checked by a doctor. He then waved his hands dramatically in the air like an orchestra conductor,while Kiran Bedi stood behind him bouncing up and down with a giant tricolour,and the PA system played the new Lokpal Anthem: “Desh meri,jaan meri,shaan meri/ Lokpal,Lokpal,pass karo Jan Lokpal.” Goswami called it “the wonderful Lokpal song”. The scene looked choreographed by whoever makes bad Doordarshan national-integration spots. Not even an inspired Times Now could have done as bad a job. (SMS joke doing the rounds: Dictatorships have the Arab Spring; democracies endure the Arnab Spring.) Speaking of DD,on one of the big news days this week,I tuned in to DD News to discover a lengthy prime-time discussion on the wars in Syria and Libya. Well done! Only NDTV’s decision to give a prime-time slot to Katrina Kaif judging a moustache beauty contest — while everyone else was speculating on Hazare’s arrest — pleased me as much.

mihir.sharma@expressindia.com

Curated For You

Jana Nayagan Movie Audio Launch Live Updates: Vijay arrives to thunderous cheers and fireworks; Pooja Hegde stuns in saree

Dhurandhar Box Office Worldwide Collection Day 22 Update: Ranveer Singh’s film surpasses Kartik’s TMMTMTTM; Salman Khan avoids Eid clash with Dhurandhar 2

Jana Nayagan Audio Launch: Date, Time, Cast, and Other Details – All You Need to Know